Richard Neal

Richard Neal (14 February 1949-) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-MA 2) from 3 January 1989 to 3 January 2013 (succeeding Edward Boland and preceding Jim McGovern) and from MA 1 from 3 January 2013 (succeeding John Olver).

Biography
Richard Neal was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1949, and he worked as an assistant to the mayor of his hometown before serving as President of the Springfield City Council from 1979 to 1983 while teaching high school history courses and lecturing at local colleges. He then oversaw a period of economic growth as Mayor of Springfield from 1983 to 1989, and he was nearly uncontested when he ran for the US House of Representatives in 1988. He was a liberal member of the Democratic Party, but he held moderate views on abortion and trade.